It's not just your
carbon footprint, now it's your water footprint
In the wake of growing consumer interest in carbon
footprints,
a new awareness of our water consumption has led to the
notion of a 'water footprint'.
The Independent,
22 August 2011
Awareness of our individual carbon footprints has
steadily grown as we have come to realise in recent years
that our behaviours are impacting the environment in many
more ways than we ever thought possible.
While minds remain focused on carbon footprints and
online calculators advise the consumer how much carbon
they are using, little attention has so far been given to
water usage. This looks set to change and present
businesses across the spectrum with the additional
challenge of managing their own water behaviours and a
potential consumer backlash to poor water stewardship.
The 'water footprint' concept was first mooted in 2002 as
an alternative indicator of water use. Where traditional
indicators of water use relate only to production, the
water footprint takes the consumption perspective. Water
footprint calculators are available too, and provide a
humbling assessment of our water consumption individually
as well as collectively as a nation.
Indications are that mild awareness is beginning to
galvanise. Remarks by the former environment minister
Phil Woolas, describing the UK's £1.7 billion bottled
water industry as 'morally unacceptable' given the high
quality of the nation's tap water while the global
shortage of water, especially in the developing world, is
reaching crisis levels caused consternation. Although
largely concerned with the much higher carbon footprint
of bottled water compared to tap water, it brought media
and public attention back to water issues.
Wading in to the debate, former London Mayor Ken
Livingstone joined forces with Thames Water to promote
tap water in restaurants, cafes and pubs across the
capital in a bid to help the environment. This is just
the beginning, not only for the bottled water industry,
but also industry at large.
At the 2008 World Economic Forum, the doyen of
international business and political get-togethers, water
featured prominently with an action plan now being
developed by six CEOs to galvanise big business efforts
to reduce water usage. Their reason is twofold. First,
there is a realisation that business faces significant
disruption across all sectors and all geographies due to
water scarcity. Second, they recognise water efficiency
and usage will increasingly creep up the agenda of
consumers when making their purchasing decisions.
Some industry sectors look distinctly more vulnerable
than others when subject to scrutiny. The global
agricultural sector uses 70 per cent of the world's
global freshwater highlighting the dilemma between water
usage and meeting the world's food demand. The
extractives industry looks vulnerable given their
footprint, often in parts of the world where water demand
is already under pressure e.g. southern Africa, Latin
America and Australia. The beverages and soft drinks
industry leaders, all with large presence in the
developing world, also face a challenge about justifying
water usage.
Awareness of water consumption will only increase among
consumers presenting reputational challenges for business
so what steps should it take?
Well, those that are prepared for the public affairs and
public relations challenge will, at least, be best placed
to begin the process of engagement with informed
stakeholders.
But those likely to commercially ride the tide are
businesses which take a leadership position and begin to
develop water specific action plans within and alongside
their existing environment management programmes.
Unilever has taken water management into the core of its
sustainable development strategy for some time and since
1995 has more than halved the amount of water it uses per
tonne of production by minimising water usage and
maximising water recycling at its manufacturing sites.
It's a strong message from a leading food producer.
According to a survey carried out by investment bank
Goldman Sachs large ethical companies persistently
outperform the market. A list of ethical companies
compiled by the Bank was found to outperform a world
index of business by at least 25 per cent. Anecdotal
evidence suggests that those consumer facing companies
which have sought to embrace sustainability, including
transparency on their carbon footprints such as Waitrose
and Marks and Spencer are benefiting from robust sales.
Leadership will be most evident in companies like
agro-chemicals giant Syngenta which is investing in
research and development into breeding crops that need
less water. Companies which innovate not only to reduce
their water consumption but also the water footprint of
its products will be best placed to face the consumer and
regulatory front.
In addition to the responsibilities of business, there
are also opportunities for companies that are willing to
innovate by developing more efficient water reclamation
and purification technology. As the availability of clean
water for domestic, agricultural and industrial use
continues to come under pressure, there will be an
increased demand for low energy efficient solutions to
maximise the use of the water resources currently
available. With changing climate now an accepted reality
coupled with the impact of deforestation, both large
scale flooding which pollutes reservoirs, and the spread
of desertification, this is an issue that is not going
away.
While water looks to be the next big environmental issue
to capture the public imagination and concern, this will
only be another stepping stone to a more holistic view
and understanding of our total impact upon the
environment and businesses embracing that approach now
are set to be the big beneficiaries tomorrow.
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